In recent years, a number of medical devices have been designed which are adapted for compression into a small size to facilitate introduction into a vascular passageway and which are subsequently expandable into contact with the walls of the passageway. These devices, among others, include blood clot filters which expand and are held in position by engagement with the inner wall of a vein, such as the vena cava. These vena cava filters are designed to remain in place permanently. Such filters include structure to anchor the filter in place within the vena cava, such as elongate diverging anchor members with hooked ends that penetrate the vessel wall and positively prevent migration in either direction longitudinally of the vessel. The hooks on filters of this type are rigid and will not bend, and within two to six weeks after a filter of this type has been implanted, the endothelium layer grows over the diverging anchor members and positively locks the hooks in place. Now any attempt to remove the filter results in a risk of injury to or rupture of the vena cava.
A number of conditions and medical procedures subject the patient to a short term risk of pulmonary embolism which can be alleviated by a filter implant. In such cases, patients are often averse to receiving a permanent implant, for the risk of pulmonary embolism may disappear after a period of several weeks or months. However, most existing filters are not easily or safely removable after they have remained in place for more than several weeks, and consequently longer-term temporary filters that do not result in the likelihood of injury to the vessel wall upon removal are not available.
In an attempt to provide a removable filter, two filter baskets have been formed along a central shaft that are conical in configuration, with each basket being formed by spaced struts radiating outwardly from a central hub for the basket. The central hubs are held apart by a compression unit, and the locator members of the two baskets overlap so that the baskets face one another. Filters of this type require the use of two removal devices inserted at each end of the filter to draw the baskets apart and fracture the compression unit. The end sections of the locator members are formed to lie in substantially parallel relationship to the vessel wall and the tips are inclined inwardly to preclude vessel wall penetration. If a device of this type is withdrawn before the endothelium layer grows over the locator members, vessel wall damage is minimized. However, after growth of the endothelium layer the combined inward and longitudinal movement of the filter sections as they are drawn apart can tear this layer.